Is it worth returning to college at 26

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This year i've turned 26.

I'm feeling void. With 2 year degree, i cant prove that i'm qualified for a job, even if i am.

So, i enrolled for a 4 years degree in the autumn. But i didnt continue. From time to time i think about returning.

Tuition is not that much in my country, so thats not really a problem.

But, it's daunting to be around 30 and have diploma and nothing else. I mean, i'm 26 and there is no room left for wasting time.

I dont want to go there and sit among 18-19-20 year olds, but i might need to. Because engineering is my only interest/passion/skill.

Many people at my age finished their studies and working in their fields. In last 8 years i struggled with mental issues and didnt do much. Time passed fast. At the moment i dont have that much passion or enthusiasm to sit among 18-20 year olds and listen to lectures.

Nobody will care about your age. I apologize for being blunt, but nobody will give a s**t. There were plenty of people who were above the "normal" college demographic in my classes. I met a lot of mothers in their 30's who were going back to school. I met people who were in the military and then quit to go to college. I know someone who's near 40 and is going back to school.

I understand feeling like we are supposed to accomplish things by a certain age, yet that's fading away in these ages. People will start new jobs, go to school, have children, get a new hobby at ages they are not "supposed" to be at.

26 does not mean you are 30. There are four years between. You are my age lol. You are not at the "end of the void" and have plenty of time to restart your life. I had to many times. It took me a bit to finish college but that was towards COVID.

You are being too self-conscious and picking on yourself. It's brave to start college again and go forth in a new space.

^^^
THIS

I was 30 when I got my Associate's. Mid 30s when I got my Bachelor's. 40 when I got my Master's. Nobody cared. You shouldn't either.

Not everyone will be 18-20 anyways. People go back to college for all sorts of reasons, at whatever period in their life they're able. Not sure what difference it makes how old the other students are.

Things have changed. Folks rarely stay in the same job all their life. I talked to a hair dresser and she didn't know anyone in her circle who was in the same job for a long time. Maybe one person for fifteen years.
Lots of people now start over in the 40s.

Teachers in some places need to get advanced degrees, which means that they are in school in the 30s.

you are going to be 30 anyways if things go right, why not be better educated at age 30. Employers in so many sectors of industry and commerce are crying for help and looking for experts in many fields, nobody will care that you are continuing your education, in fact that is a positive factor that makes you even more employable. Yes, go for it!! !

My advice is to go after your goal of an education in your field of study. No one will care how old you are. There was once a great grandmother in Kansas that graduated with her bachelors degree in business at the age of 92. She then went on to complete her masters degree a few years later. Most would have told her that she was wasting her time. But, it was her goal to get it done before she passed on. She was the turtle that beat the hare in the race of life.

Do not worry about what other people will think. You need to do what is best for you, not them.

BTW - One of my graduate school friends earned his doctorate at the age of 50. He was literally homeless at the age of 35 with no education outside of high school. He befriended a college professor who talked him into going to college. He worked his way up and finished his education many years later. He is disabled now due to the effects of a brain tumor, something he could not plan for. He is still happy that he took that route in his life. He got a good ten + years of his dream career and he is now enjoying retirement with his family.

It's worth it if you have an actual plan of what you want to do, and are studying a program that has a reasonable chance of leading to a career.

But the question is: is college something that YOU actually intrinsically want to do?

Or are you just doing it because you feel like you're supposed to, or so that people don't look down upon you for not having a degree. Those are not good reasons to go into debt and spend time.

If you are studying something you really want to do, you wouldn't see it as a waste of time. The only reason you may be viewing this as a waste of time is because you're considering it for other peoples approval rather than your own motivations.

Is returning to college required for what you'd like to do with your life? If so, it's probably worthwhile.

Yes, just don't get a degree in something stupid.

Make sure you can get a marketable job in whatever you're doing and then just concentrate on the work, not the people. Give yourself lots of time with your interests to recharge.

Honestly, I would devote ZERO time to trying to present as normal or non-autistic in a college setting these days. It will take too much of your energy, and everyone in college is encouraged to be as weird as possible these days so why not be one of them. Just focus on you.

Keep in mind that less and less people these days are actually able to perform work, do math, read, know how a computer works, etc. If you can do these things, or learn how to, you will go far in life.

I went into a masters program when I was 26 and it ruled, but in time it turned out to not be what I wanted to do so I did it a second time when I was 35. Honestly two of the best decisions I ever made.

I hope to one day luck into a shedload of money and get a bachelors in architecture or something just because I can.

There's a college about 2km down the road . . . I'm 67 years old . . . hmm . . .

have to echo everyone else in the thread and say, yes. I entered college at 17/18 but took a long sabbatical, in the same time of the sabbatical was diagnosed and had odd jobs.
I finished a bachelors' degree at 27 but in the meantime, after rejoining my program, still took the time and opportunity to make friends and find people in similar situations. there are a lot of people in college who are older/returning students due to the opportunities that a new degree may provide.
It is so much easier to speak for yourself and assert and validate yourself to a hiring manager if you have a bachelors' degree or more. It is very difficult (and I tried) to provide a hiring manager with evidence that you are capable of the work independently from any sort of formal or accredited program. There are some non-degree pathways into careers (pharm tech, nurse tech, medical techs, engineering/IT techs) and definitely a lot of people in industry without a formal background in their current career, but I think those opportunities (i.e., CS job without a formal CS degree) are just so competitive now that you will see applicants get filtered out first pass by academic achievement, especially at entry level.
Be it investors or interest rates or what have you, even if you demonstrate independently that you're capable of X job, it is just kind of the case now where applicant pools are large and a manager has to justify a candidate through their boss, their boss's boss, etc., etc..
I personally feel like it's much better to try to complete a bachelor's degree as soon as possible and don't put too much weight on the outcome. I really think it is a tremendous leg up; so many people don't even have the opportunity to pursue it in the first place, so in respect to them I really felt like I had to complete mine no matter what.